the effigy of our Saviour was observed to be half
dressed in female attire, a glaring absurdity which the author has
once before seen in the Spanish convent-church of Burgos. In the
Matanzas church alluded to, boys and girls of nine and ten years were
seen at the confessional. Could absurdity be carried to a greater
height? These with negro women form nearly all the audiences to be met
with in the Cuban churches, unless upon festal occasions. The men
manifest their indifference by their absence, and white women are
scarcely represented. Besides the cathedral, Santiago has three or
four other old churches, small and dilapidated, within whose sombre
walls one seems to have stepped back into the fifteenth century. Upon
strolling accidentally into one of these we felt a chill suffuse the
whole system, like that realized on descending into a dark, undrained
cellar.

The multiplicity and gaudiness of the drinking-saloons and bar-rooms
were particularly noticeable in passing along the principal streets,
and all were doing a thriving business, judging from appearances. The
Cubans drink lightly, but they drink often, and are especially
addicted to gin, which is dealt out to them at an extraordinarily low
price. It appears that people can consume a much larger quantity of
spirituous liquors here without becoming intoxicated than they can do
at the North. It is very rare to see a person overcome by this
indulgence in Cuba, and yet, as was afterwards observed in Cienfuegos,
Matanzas, and Havana, the common people begin the day with a very
liberal dram, and follow it up with frequent libations until
bed-time,--tippling at every convenient opportunity. A few of the
better class of private houses were constructed with courts in the
centre, where flowers and tropical fruits were growing luxuriantly.
These dwellings were confined to no special quarter of the town, but
were as often found next to a commercial warehouse or a negro shanty
as elsewhere. The dogs, horses, and Chinese coolies were all in
wretched condition. One might count the ribs of the first two a long
way off, while the latter were ragged, lame, half-starved, and many
of them blind. Animals are the recipients of the severest sort of
usage both in Cuba and Spain. Few vehicles were to be seen, as
merchandise is mostly transported on the backs of mules and ponies,
and these animals are seldom shod.

The town is lighted with gas, or rather it was so illuminated a few
weeks